Macron, Merz and others will push against ceding Ukraine territory in ‘peace plan’ – OK, so do they want total war?

The Guardian reports that “European leaders including Keir Starmer will join Volodymyr Selensky at a White House meeting with Donald Trump on Monday in an extraordinary joint effort to push back on a US-backed plan that would allow Russia to take further Ukrainian territory.

European leaders and Selensky are standing up that Russia will not obtain control of the full Donbass, ie. a few more lands, towns and villages in the Luhansk and Donezk Oblasts. It is not about much land but it contains some highly fortified towns and villages surrounding the Russian owned territories in the Donbass. These fortresses have not yet been taken by Russia, as they are difficult to overrun. Some are about to be encircled by the Russian army and bombed to the ground. These Ukrainian fortresses were used since 2014 to shell the Russian towns in Luhansk and Donetsk, killing since 2014 tens of thousands of Russians. It may be understandable why Russia either will get those fortresses surrendered or will take them forcefully in the current rhythm. But until then, Russia might not be willing to stop its military operation. There will be no peace till Ukraine’s surrender or defeat.

Donald Trump knows this since long. And he is of the opinion that it is a better deal to give Russia what they want, what they are fighting for, as those few Donetsk territories have no strategic or other value for the US. It is difficult to know why the Europeans really do value these territories, in particular, compared to a continuation of the war or even an escalation that might touch those Willing Europeans. Eg it is an unanswered question what may be the value for the UK if or if not Russia obtains those territories as demanded. The UK has no strategic or economic advantage other than the potential of a new outbreaks of military conflicts because of these fortresses. The war in Ukraine is not a chess game. It is bloody serious and has already cost some British special forces’ lives, besides hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian lives.

Time to end this – even if some of the players are not happy not to win the game.